John Timoney, a former Ramapo resident, rose through the ranks of the New York City Police Department, before taking top cop jobs in Philadelphia and Miami.Photo Credit: Ramapo Police Department/FacebookJohn Timoney,died Tuesday at the age of 68.Photo Credit: iop.harvard.edu

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RAMAPO, N.Y. – Local police officers were mourning the loss this week of former Ramapo resident John Timoney, a Dublin-born police officet famous for his swagger, blunt talk and love of law enforcement.

Timoney, 68, died Tuesday in Miami of lung cancer, according to multiple media reports.

According to Timoney's biography on Wikipedia, his family moved to New York City in the early 1960s, where he acquired a Bronx accent.

His father died when he and a younger brother were still in high school and his mother and sister went back to Ireland just after Timoney graduated.

Shortly afterwards, he took a civil service exam, passed, and became a trainee with the New York City Police Department.

According to all accounts, Timoney rose through the ranks at top speed to become the youngest person to become chief of the NYPD. He also served as first deputy commissioner, during Bill Bratton's first stint as NYPD commissioner in the 1990s.

Timoney left after a 29-year run in the Big Apple to become commissioner of police in Philadelphia.

He served there until the end of 2001, and then took a job with a security firm in New York.

But the cop's cop wasn’t content to cool his heels in the private sector forever.

Timoney was in line for the chief’s spot in Los Angeles, but lost out to Bratton, the current NYPD commisioner.

Instead, Timoney became the head of the Miami Police Department, staying there until 2010.

Known for his innovative approach to the handling of large-scale events, Timoney went to work for the Ministry of the Interior in Bahrain, where there was a lot of civil strife going at the time

He also worked as a police consultant.

In a post on Facebook, Timoney’s Ramapo brothers in blue extended their “thoughts and prayers” to his grieving family and friends.